Although clinically overt vitamin E deficiency is a rare occurrrence in man, an increasing body of knowldege, however, suggests that pharmacologic doses of vitamin E may be beneficial in certain clinical situations. Clinical trials indicate that high doses of vitamin E are beneficial in patients with intermittent claudication thalassemia, and with chronic hemolyzing glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. In addition, preliminary studies indicate possible therapeutic roles for vitamin E in treating certain encephalopathies, myopathies, sickle cell anemia, bronchopulmonary displasia, retrolental fibroplasia and oncology patients taking oxidative drugs such as adriamycin. Since there is a growing interest in the potential clinical applications of vitamin E, a conference concerning this vitamin and human health would be most timely and appropriate. The immediate goal of this conference is to provide a forum for direct communication between clinicans and scientists to critically review the recently reported therapeutic effects of vitamin E in several human diseases and to discuss how these effects relate to the basic biochemical function(s) of this vitamin. Through such communication, research workers can better appreciate the problems facing the clinicians and on the other hand, clinicians can be more aware of recent advances in basic research. Good communication between clinicians and basic research scientists is essential to define criteria for the clinical applications of vitamin E. Furthermore, it is also a major objective of this conference to establish directions for future research related to vitamin E. In order to facilitate direct communication between basic research scientists and clinicans, a unique conference program is organized. Morning sections will be devoted to discussing recent advances in understanding the basic cellular biochemistry of vitamin E. Afternoon sections will be focused on clinical applications of vitamin E.